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Heiban language

{{Short description|Niger–Congo language spoken in Sudan}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Heiban

| nativename = {{lang|hbn|Ebang}}

| region = Nuba Hills

| states = Sudan

| ethnicity = Heiban Nuba

| speakers = {{sigfig|4,410|1}}

| date = 1984

| ref = e25

| script = Latin

| familycolor = Niger-Congo

| fam2 = Kordofanian

| fam3 = Talodi–Heiban

| fam4 = Heiban

| fam5 = Central

| fam6 = Laro–Ebang

| map2 = Lang Status 80-VU.svg

| mapcaption2 = {{center|{{small|Heiban is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}

| iso3 = hbn

| glotto = heib1243

| glottorefname = Ebang

| mapcaption = {{legend|#feff99|Heiban}}

| map = Kordofan-languages_02.png

}}

The Heiban language, Ebang, or Abul, is a Niger–Congo language in the Heiban family spoken in the town of Heiban located in the Nuba Mountains of Kordofan, Sudan.

Orthography

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+{{Cite web |title=Heiban Grammar |url=http://rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/Kordofanian/Heiban/guest_heiban-grammar1997.pdf |website=rogerblench.info}}

|a

|b

|ɓ

|c

|d

|dh

|ɗ

|e

|f

|g

|h

|i

|j

|k

|kh

|l

|m

n

|ny

|ŋ

|o

|ɔ

|p

|r

|ɽ

|s

|t

|th

|u

|ū

|v

|w

|y

|z

Grammar

= Nouns =

The earliest record of the Heiban noun class system was composed by Stevenson (1956/57), in which he classified each noun class into two sections, the first being for singular form and the second for plural form. Each noun class has an indicative prefix. The separation of noun classes occurs due to the nouns belonging to a certain category. Guest (1997) further contributed to the findings of Stevenson by discovering more classification for nouns.

class="wikitable"

|+

!Noun Class

!Singular Prefix

!Plural prefix

!Semantic identification

1,2

|kw-/gw-

ku-/gu-

(∅)

|l- li-/lu- li-

|People, animal and nature except trees

1,2

|(∅)

| - ŋa (suffix)

|Relatives

3,4

|Kw-/gw-

Ku-/gu-

|j-/(∅)

ji-/ju-/(∅)

|Trees

5,6

|l-

|ŋ-/nw-

|Sets

7,8

|k-/g-

|j-/(∅)

|Common things

9,10

|dh-

|d-/r-

|Long. thin things

11,12

|dh-

|j-/(∅)

|Large and dangerous things

13,14

|k-/g-

|Ny-

|Hallow and deep things

15,16

|ŋ-

|ny-

|Domestic and small animals and things

20

|ŋ-

| -

|Liquids and abstract nouns

21,22

|ŋ-

|j-

|Goat

25,26

|(∅)

|j-

|Words beginning with a vowel

= Pronouns =

Pronouns in Heiban are categorised as ‘free pronouns’ or ‘bound pronouns’. Early recordings of the language, such as in the work of Guest (1997) only went as far as to mention free pronouns.

class="wikitable"

|+

!

!Subject pronoun (stand- alone)

!Object Infix

1st person singular

|nyi

| -nyi

2nd person singular

|ŋa

| -aŋa

3rd person singular

|ŋeda

| -nyi

1st person dual

|daŋa

| -ilo

1st person plural

|Anaŋa/alŋa

| -ilo

2nd person plural

|ŋaŋa

| -ji

3rd person plural

|ŋidiŋa

| -ilo

Guest further notes that in Heiban, an object or an animal may not be referred to with the 3rd person subject pronouns alone, but with the object suffix. Bound pronouns are morphemes in a verbal complex that refer to some participant but are not class specific.

class="wikitable"

|+

!

!Initial

!Medial

!Final

!Syntactic function

1st person singular

|nyi-

| -inyi-

| -iny

|Subject and object

2nd person singular

|ŋa-

| -aŋa-

| -aŋa

|Subject and object

3rd person singular

|ŋwu-

| -uŋwu-

| -uŋw

|Always subject

1st person plural inclusive subject

|Al-

|

|

|Subject

1st person plural exclusive subject

|ana-

| -ana-

| -ana

|Subject

1st person plural object

|ji-

| -iji-

| -ije

|Object

2nd person plural subject

|nya-

| -anya-

| -anya

|Subject

2nd person plural object

|ŋaji-

| -a(i)ji-

| -aje

|Object

Plural

|Al-

| -il-

| -lo

|?

Plural Adresse

|

|

| -ul

|Plural adresse

Bound pronouns for 1st and 2nd person have specific forms to represent subject and object. In singular form, the subject and object may be identical in spelling but are assumed to have pronunciation differences. There is also a 1st person plural exclusive and inclusive for subject forms. Furthermore, there is a pronoun for 3rd person singular which is free of reference to any particular class.

= Numbers =

class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" | base numeral

| rowspan="11" style="background-color: lightgrey;" |

! colspan="2" | +10

1{{lang|hbn|gwetipo}}

| 11

{{lang|hbn|die a gwepito}}
2{{lang|hbn|ram}}

| 12

{{lang|hbn|die a ram}}
3{{lang|hbn|thiril}}

| 13

{{lang|hbn|die a thiril}}
4{{lang|hbn|koriŋo}}

| 14

{{lang|hbn|die a koriŋo}}
5{{lang|hbn|thudhna}}

| 15

{{lang|hbn|die a thudhna}}
6{{lang|hbn|nyiril}}

| 16

{{lang|hbn|die a nyiril}}
7{{lang|hbn|koriŋo a thiril}}

| 17

{{lang|hbn|die a koriŋo a thiril}}
8{{lang|hbn|dubaŋ}}

| 18

{{lang|hbn|die a dubaŋ}}
9{{lang|hbn|thudhina a koriŋa}}

| 19

{{lang|hbn|die a thudina a koriŋo}}
10{{lang|hbn|die}}

| 20

{{lang|hbn|dhure}}

Beyond 20, the numbers proceed to 200 in a similar manner as the teens, with only the word denoting the power of 10 changing.

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=new100&morpho=0&basename=new100\krd\hei&limit=-1 Ebang (Heiban) and Abul basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database]

{{Languages of Sudan}}

{{Kordofanian languages}}

Category:Heiban languages

Category:Vulnerable languages

{{Kordofanian-lang-stub}}